If you’ve ever followed the water-to-rice ratio on your rice cooker to a T, only to find yourself with a pot of gummy, mushy rice, it might be because you skipped the rinse or didn’t rinse your rice well enough. As someone who lives for a bowl of perfectly steamed rice—one in which the grains are separate but still manage to just cling to one another—I’m a devotee of rice rinsing. Call it habit, call it tradition, but I just can’t make a pot of rice without thoroughly washing it first.
Not everyone rinses their rice, though. And if you take a look at a handful of recipes or rice package instructions, each will probably tell you something totally different. To make matters even more complicated, some recipes might not mention the need to rinse out of an assumption that everyone is rinsing their rice, so I wouldn’t blame you if you’ve never rinsed rice before cooking. Here’s what you need to know about the process and whether it really makes a difference.
What does rinsing rice do?
According to Washington Post writer Aaron Hutcherson, the outside of each grain of rice is coated in starch, a result of the granules rubbing against each other on their long voyage from paddy to grocery store shelf. That starch, Hutcherson notes, “is responsible for the grains clumping together and sometimes giving the finished pot a gummy texture.”
“Every grain of rice contains granules of starch, plus a small amount of proteins and lipids,” writes cookbook author and food science expert Nik Sharma. There are two types of starch in rice: amylose and amylopectin. Varieties higher in amylopectin, like glutinous rice or arborio rice, tend to be stickier. Rice types that are high in amylose, such as basmati or jasmine, are less sticky and more firm.
Rinsing rice before cooking it washes the grains of their excess starch and helps the grains remain separate. Like many dried goods, there may also be grit in the package and on the surface of your rice, and washing your grains will also help cleanse it of any debris.
How do you rinse rice?
Start by placing your rice in a large bowl and cover the grains with water. Using your hand, gently swirl the rice around until the water becomes cloudy. Pour out the water—but make sure the rice remains in the bowl—and repeat until the water is clear, about three to four rinses. Alternatively, you can also put the rice in a strainer, place it under a running faucet, and rinse until the water goes from murky to clear, but I find it much easier to see the color of the water when it’s in a bowl.
Own a rice cooker? Save yourself from having to wash an extra dish by rinsing your rice right in the bowl of your cooker. Be sure to really drain the excess water off—failing to do this can mess with your water-to-rice ratio and all your hard work will be for nought.
